Hi! I know this might seem a little crazy, but I feel that Mario Bros. would be just as good of an addition to the site as DK3.
While I understand that DK3 is literally called that, it should also be understood that DK3 is disliked because it's called that, and it simply doesn't have anything to do with the first two games other than some light platforming elements and the presence of the Donkey Kong character. Similarly, Mario Bros. is a more "regular" but still different kind of platformer, and there's the presence of the Jumpman/Mario character. And I think we can all agree that it's about as much of an underdog as poor old DK3 is, at least!
I also don't think Mario Bros. would be any kind of slippery slope. MB was a proper arcade game (if it's broken in some way, that's not common knowledge); it is very easy to say that MB is a direct successor to the DK series, because... it is!
Even SMB is verified to be broken unless you use some specific rules, and of course there's not much point in going further. Also, "arcade game" kinda ends here, as those pinball and pachinko machines don't really have anything to do with anything.
The only strangeness I can think of at this point is something like Popeye. Aside from no Mario character, I think a similar argument could be made for that game, and I'd probably participate in such a discussion. But it would end there too; I don't think Nintendo made any other real arcade platformers, at least not at the time.
Again, I'm more worried about DK3 in all of this, the fact that it's more of a shmup than a platformer, and the fact that it's only here because of what amounts to branding; even Super Pac-Man and Pac & Pal at least used similar mechanics, you'd want Pac-Land or something here. By that I mean DK3 could lead to Radar Scope and so on. Honestly, I'd be okay with an "old Nintendo arcade games forum", but...
I dunno, just an idea. I really think Mario Bros., at the very least, would be a better fit for this forum than DK3, strange as that sounds.
By the way,
here's a great thread on Mario Bros.; check out the first post on page 2.
